Mattel DC Retro Action Batman

Late in 2020, I went back through The Toys That Made Us series on Netflix and the Star Trek episode took some time to really dig into the history of Mego. Many of the toys I played with growing up or have collected are technically before my time but Mego was WAY before my time. I always kind of had a general idea of the toys, mainly thanks to Robot Chicken, but something about the presentation of the episode really gave me an itch to try this type of toyline out.

I decided to get just one figure, to try it out. If I didn't like them, no big deal, not a lot of time/money wasted. My favorite superhero is Kyle Rayner (Green Lantern/Ion) and I remembered that Matty Collector had a Mego-like brand for a few years. A google search later and I found a Kyle Rayner figure for $10! Perfect. I could hardly ask for a better price for making a trial run. A week later, the figure arrived and I loved it. They had an entire sub series of GL's that I bought and some other items but that is for a different blog. However, this was my entry into Megoish figures.

I decided to go back into Mego to find a Batman. This was pretty tricky because I wanted to find a Batman that would be my 'definitive' version of the character. For me, Batman exists somewhere between the way he was reimagined by Dennis O'neal and Neal Adams, the Filmation Cartoon, and the 1966 Batman series. Specifically, the Batman we see in the Jose Luis Garcia Lopez style guide.

Looking around at choices of Batman, the answer was pretty tricky. Mego, recently returned, has produced a Batman, but it reflects the modern style.

Figures Toy Company produced a few Batmans. They remade the original Mego Batman and produced versions for the Superfriends, the New Adventures of Batman, the 1966 Batman, and even their take on the Neal Adams Batman.

None of these really called to me. The closest had to be the Neal Adams inspired FTC figure but it still didn't really resonate. Then I remembered the DC Retro Action line from Matty Collector. This was exactly the figure I wanted but the first run of this line had floppy waists and the rest of the run had slightly floppy legs. Then I also remembered that ClassicTVToys.com was selling a new S Type body. The body used actual plastic articulation joints instead of bands. I decided to buy Batman and the S Type body. If I couldn't get the Mattel body to work, I could just throw it all on the S Type body.

As soon as Batman arrived, I popped him apart and rebanded him. It worked, and he was not longer floppy! However, the S Typy body had also arrived and it offered better points of articulation.

The Mattel body had way better muscle definition but the S type offered bicep swivel. I went with the S Type. I ended up giving the rebanded body to my Kyle Rayner, who is happy to no longer have floppy legs.

Judge for yourselves if I made the right decision.

You can find the DC Retro Action Batman on Ebay in the $20 price range.

You can buy the S Type body from Classic TV Toys

Look for some more 8" figure posts from me soon!

Comments

Mega Bloks Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2016 - Lord Zedd and Custom Squatt

So, 29 Blind Bags later, I completed the official collection with Lord Zedd. I've really enjoyed this series. Sure it is not the most detailed or articulated but there is just a certain fun factor that radiates from these figures. And now that it is complete, my focus has turned to what customs I can create. I've already posted about Rita Repulsa. By Zedd, she looks pretty great. Now I've added another custom with Squatt. It was challenging finding which lego pieces would best reflect the character. Here are my current Evil Space Alien leaders. I still have a few more in the works.

Mega Bloks Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2016 - Big Update

This will be a big update, as I had quite a few things all arrive around the same time! 1 - Titanus..?? Starting this collection began a massive Ebay search on my part to find other things that could help fill it out, specifically, something for Titanus. It didn't take along to find out that in 2003, Mega Bloks made a Brachio Zord for the Dino Thunder series. At first, the color scheme had me feeling a little iffy... but then I remembered that there had also been a special Titanus toy with similar colors. Here it is compared with some other Zords. Obviously, the scale works pretty well. The Brachio Zord was supposed to function as a Command Center and Carrier, so it has some opening compartments. These were intended for minifigure sized Zords but they obviously work with the Rangers too. 2 - Megazord My second Megazord arrived this week. Even though I had already purchased one to make my custom Mastodon and Pterodactyl Zor...

Kre-O G.I. Joe Forces/ USS Flagg

Seeing this boxed set a few years ago is what got me back into collecting G.I. Joe. I had passed on the joy of G.I. Joe to my younger brothers, and to its credit, its one of the few franchises that has stuck with them. I don't feel bad about giving them my collection because most of my collections began when my cousins passed them on to me. Plus, with all of the vehicles and playsets, they are a little much to have up and displayed. Finding the Kre-O sets allowed me to keep showing my love for G.I. Joe on a smaller scale. The fact that it was a Slaughter's Marauders set is was truly sold me. Love the Sarge. So anyways, here are my current Joes. I've already posted a blog about my Cobra collection, which you can find here, Cobra Forces . After this, I'll make a post on my Iron Grenadiers and the rest of my Vehicles/Playsets. USS Flagg Not an official set. I found this Chinese knock off and modified the cabin so that it could hold figures. Also added...

Transformers Legends Scale Jazz, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Starscream, and Thundercracker

Around the end of the G1 line, Transformers made the Pretenders which produced some smaller versions of some popular bots like Jazz and Starscream that would fit in different shells/skins. In 1989, they re-released these figures without the shells and just called them Legends. In the 2000s, Hasbro decided to bring this scale back with their Robots in Disguise, Transformers Universe, Reveal the Shield and various other lines. Over time, the scale has continuously fluctuated so that it is tough to understand just how different figures will line up. This proved particularly challenging for me when I was searching for an appropriately sized Optimus Prime for my GoBots. Well, now I have added some more Transformers to my collection, Jazz, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper, Starscream, and Thundercracker. They are all about the same size. This bothers me a little bit when it comes to Bumblebee and Cliffjumper, but when I put them with Optimus or the GoBots, it all works out pretty ...

Super 7 Hordak and She-Ra 2 pack

As I've mentioned before, I was lucky growing up between the decades of the 80's and 90's. I was the right age to have TMNT, the rebirth of G.I. Joe, and the X-Men but also benefit from the collections and fandoms of my older cousins. I was one of the few kids my age who had an extensive collection of Star Wars, M.A.S.K., G.I. Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, and Masters of the Universe. And, as I've also mentioned before, Masters of the Universe is probably my favorite franchise, so of course I had the vintage Hordak. The Horde was such an intriguing group of villains, whereas Skeletor ruled a group of territorial warlords, Hordak was the leader of a technologically advanced army with hideous generals at his side. I was also lucky enough to have Leech and Mantenna, both of whom have better figure appearances than their animation counterparts. Now, I never had a She-Ra figure but I did have Teela. With all of that in mind, when I saw the prototypes for Super 7's ...

Ubernerd, Beyond Loserdome

Search This Blog